Brace buckle



Aug. 13, 1935. 1 w. sHn-:LDS

BRACE BUCKLE Filed Deo. 31, 1934 loveZZ MJz'eZ .5,

KVAVA .f The invention Patented Aug. 13, 1935 l "Lowell W.

The Hic s l PATENT ori-les o, Basen BUCKLE Shields. Rochester, N. Y.,assignor to kok -Manu iacturing Company, inc.,

Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York v Applicationeccmber 31',1934, Serial No. 760,009 1 Claim. (Cl. Z4-184) Suspenders.

The object relates toy buckles for braces or of the present invention isto imj prove the construction of that type-of brace buckle comprising aframe or front-and aclamping lever adapted to adjustably clamp thewebbing ofl a shoulder strap between it and the frame or front. Moreespecially they invention has for its object to provide for bracebuckles of this character a spring clamping lever designed tobe usedwith various type styles or forms c fronts and adapted direction awayfrom just itself automatically i frames or to yield rearwardlyin the theframe or front to adto a wide range or webbingsyof Adifferentthicknessesand still hold the same in its adjusted positionl against accidentalslipping vw -en the shoulder strap to which the buckle is applied issubjected to the strains incident to the use of Suspenders or Anotherobject of a resilient clamp-ing yielding or fronts lever adapted to beemployed braces.

the invention is to provide through its characteristics to enable rigidbodies in .the construction of brace buckles so that the fronts `orframesfof brace buckles may be made in the form oi a solid ornamentalfront or framean open work frame which will ornamentahy expose portionsof a webbing or a jeweled front which necessitates a more or less rigidstructure and which should be relieved of any tendency to iiex oir-bendit. Another object of a brace buckle adapted to avoid the justmentrequired by old style solid buckle clamps the invention is to providecareful acl-.

to adapt the same for different web thicknesses.

Another object of the invention is to provide meansfor reinforcing thespring clamping lever adjacent the resilient portion thereof so that themetal will be sufficiently stiff and strong to prevent a rupture of thematerial and undue extension of the resilient portion.

With these and other objects in view, the in` vention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated inthe accom'- panying drawing and pointedout in the claim hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion and minor details of construction,within the scope of the claim,

may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyinvention.

In the drawing:- Fig. 1 is a fro-nt view of a brace structed inaccordance With thisin of the advantages of the buckle convention and.in its engaging position.

Fig. `4 is a similar view, the spring clamping lever. being disengagedfrom the webbing to permit of adjustment of the same.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View, being arranged as showninfFig. l.y

Fig; 6 is `a detail perspective view. of the buckle frame. j, Y

Fig. '7 is a detail perspective view of the spring clamping lever viewedfrom the back thereof.

. Fig. 8 is a perspective viewof Vthe same looking at the iro-nt of thespring clamping lever.

Fig. 9 is ya front view of a portion of a shoulder strap providedA witha buckle having another design of buckle frame or front. y l f In theaccompanying drawing in which is illustrated the preferred form vof theinvention the o brace buckle comprises in its `construction the buckleframe l an a spring clamping lever 2 constructed of sheet metal or othersuitable material and consisting of a' body portion 3'and a jaw 4arranged at the top of the body portion and eitending inwardly .orforwardly therefrom substantially at right angles thereto. The springclamping lever which may be stamped by suitable dies or otherwise formedis provided at the ends of the jaw d with laterally extending rpivots 5which are arranged in perforations 6 of ears 1 rextending rearwardlyfrcm the ends of the front or frame l. The pivotal connection betweenthe spring clamping lever 2 and the frame or front I may be formed inany other suitable manner and it permits the jaw il to be swung into andout of engagement with webbing 8 or other suitable material of which theshoulder strap 9 maybe constructed.

When the jaw 4 is in engagement with the webbing it is arranged inapproximately a horizontal position depending upon the thickness of thewebbing or other material of which the shoulder strap may be made and itis adapted to be swung downwardly out of such engagement from theposition illustrated in Fig. 3 to that illus-'- trated in Fig. 4. Whenthe jaw is swung downwardly out of engagement with the webbing thelatter may be adjusted in the usual manner to p lengthen or shorten thebraces. In order to enable the jawto firmly and securelyengage the ,thesans webbing without liability of the latter slipping buckleand aportion of the '.11

' and alsov without injuring the 'same the engaging edge of the jaw isprovided at intervalswith tapering relatively short spurs I formed bysubstantially segmental recesses II.

The body portion 3 of the spring clamping lever extends downwardly fromthe jaw and is curved longitudinally of the webbing to present a convexinner or front face and a concave outer or rear face. I Thev curvatureofthe body portion of the clamping lever tends to cause the lowerportion of the clamping lever to project rear lwardly slightly and tofacilitate the attachment of the adjustable end I2 ofthe webbing and the115 with a transverse opening bar I 4 which is arranged in a loopedportion I5 of the. enclA I2 of the webbing. The kend I2 of the webbingis passed through the opening I3 and is stitched or otherwise secured toform the looped portion I5. The shoulder strap'S is looped at Athe lowerfront portion in the usual manner to receive thepconnecting member I6 ofthe suspender ends I1. f y

In order toA render the clamping lever resilient and permit the same'tospring or yield rearwardly and automaticallyadjust itself :to differ-VVent thicknesses and qualities'of webbing or other f material employed inthe manufacture of shoulder .strapsv`v of Suspenders or Vbraces the saidclamping lever 2 is provided at spaced points, approximately midwaybetween the center and endsv of the jaw with slits or'c'uts'I8formedbyshearing or splitting the metal or otherwise. The slits orcuts I8 are disposed transversely of the jaw 4 and extend entirelyacross the Vsame and have extensions I 9,y extending downwardly througha" portion of the Ybody o1' the lever. These'slits or cuts form aresilient "central portion 20 which produces a spring clamping leverVand enables the 40' same' to yield rearwardly away A.fromthe front orframe and automatically adjust itself to the thickness of apiecey ofwebbing or other material and in order to reinforce the metal at the L lslits or cuts the lever is provided with embossing 415' 2| formingribsat the exterior of .the spring clamping lever and grooves at the innerface of the same. f y 'I'he reinforcing embossing lare preferably of.

.n U-shape formation each embossing 2I being 'come posed lof spacedsidesand a connecting portion. The embossing extends around the innerportions of the slits or cuts andmay be of any desired length and ranyother form of reinforcingemlower portion of the clamping leverisprovided I3 forming a lowerI y same.

bossing may of course be provided. A separate reinforcing embossingY isprovided at the innerv portion of each slit and these embossings arelocated well within theside edges ofthe lever and they extend from slitsat opposite sides thereofand are arranged f closely adjacent the saidinner portions `of the slits as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7 of therdrawing. The slits render-a. portion of the jaw resilient l and thereinforcing `embossing stiffens the adjacent portions of the springclamping lever.

The spring clamping lever is designed to be applied to various forms ofbuckle frames or fronts either-solid as illustrated'in Fig. 1 of thedrawing or of openfwork as `shown in Fig. 9. The frame or frontl22illustrated in Fig. 9` is provided withornamental openings 23 adapted toornamentally expose portions of the-webbing 24. Various designs and thesaid spring clamping yjaw iwill be foundvv particularly advantageous inbuckles having jeweled fronts as it will enable the buckle framej or.front to be made as` rigid as rdesired Without affecting lthe resilientaction of the clamping lever andthe automatic adjustment ofthe bracebuckle to webbing and other material of diiferent thicknesses@ Theresilient -clamping lever also relieves the front or buckle'frame ofstrain tending to flex the lsaid frame or front so that there will be noliability of jeweled fronts being 'injured when the buckle is vopenedand closed.

What is claimed is:-` A buckle of the class buckle frame, and a clampingrlever pivotallyconnected to the buckle frame and having Aa forwardlyextending jaw movable toward and from thebuckle frame, said lever being'provided at spaced points between the ends of the jaw with transverseslits extending across the jaw and through the adjacent upper portionofthe lever and terminating at said upper portion of the lever toprovide a resilient web engaging portion' centrally of the jaw,saidlever being y.also provided at the `slits with separateapproximately U-shaped embossings located well within the'sid'e 1? edgesof the lever and extendingl from'the inner portions of the slits atoppositev sides thereof around the innerends of Vtheslits and arrangedclosely adjacent the same lfor reinforcing the c. lever adjacent theresilient web' engaging por` 56: tion Without interfering with theresiliency of the LOWELL W. sHmLns.

the inner portionsof the 5 may of course be providedr describedcomprising a I n

